The wrong end of the dog is doing the thinking for trustees

Editor:

The two things I have discovered circulating Walnut Township zoning referendum petitions is how many nice people live in our township and how many questions residents have about the two zoning changes recently approved by Walnut Township Trustees.

I have told people that I don't have many answers to their questions and that trustees are not voluntarily offering many answers to those questions. I admit that not many questions could be asked, let alone be answered during a recent three-minute meeting that included about 40 seconds for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I didn't have any problem getting signatures on the two petitions that I have been circulating to let voters have the final say at the November election. Only time will tell if residents are successful in getting the issues on the ballot.

Since I don't know why trustees changed the zoning classificationson these two properties, I could only make general statements. One property, that was changed from I-1 (Industrial) to I-2, started out as a stone business and HOW they are doing business now requires an I-2 designation. I-2 is pretty much an anything goes land designation. I think the property, between Canal Road and the railroad track on the west side of Ohio 37, was partially zoned I-1 when the business moved there. But someone said to someone that how they are doing business needs an I-2 designation. I think the zoning board recommended the change to I-2 and the trustees concurred and changed the I-1 to I-2. Now I understand they are considering seeking a permit for a construction and demolition debris landfill there.

This zoning situation reminds me of adult parents raising their children. The parents set the curfew for their child at 11 p.m., but the child doesn't get home until 11:55 p.m. The parents might be asleep when the child gets home, but they discover he broke curfew. After discussing the late arrival, the parents, rather than adhering to their standards of an 11 p.m. curfew that had been in effect for all his older siblings, now change their standards and give this child a midnight curfew. I think the child should change, not the other way around.

I don't have an answer on changing the 280-acre Parrish property from agricultural zoning to the highest use classificationof I-2. Trustees haven't said why they voted for this extreme change and the only indirect answer I have heard is that "Parrish is letting this property be rezoned."

To paraphrase an old statement about a dog, I think the wrong end of the dog is doing the thinking for our Walnut Township Trustees lately.
Tom Tweedle
North Bank